‘5 Questions With’: Dan Caplen

EQ: Hi Dan, welcome to EQUATE! Can you tell us a little about yourself and your music – did you grow up surrounded by it, or it’s something that developed a little later for you?

D: Thank you for having me man! So, I grew up playing the piano & cello from a young age, about 6 or 7. My parents didn’t really play music, but my mum encouraged me to do it as I wasn’t the most academic and it helped me get a scholarship for school. Later in life, around my early teens is when I got in to hip-hop – Kanye West, John Legend – that kid of mid-2000s era. The glory years of hip-hop!

EQ: You’ve been on a bit of a hiatus in releasing new solo music, what have you been doing in that time and how did the break affect or inspire your artistry?

D: During my hiatus I’ve been working and mainly writing for other artists. And I still dedicate a lot of time to that, even at the moment. I think it was useful for me to take a bit of time off – still keep writing, still stay doing what I love – but not have it so focused on myself. Sometimes with a little bit of a break you get a bit more of a vision of what you want your music to sound like. It’s really helped me take some time to work out what I want to do and realise the importance of incorporating my background in classical music, strings in particular, it to what I’m doing now. And I’m really happy with how it’s sounding!

EQ: Your fresh new single ‘Love Keeps Falling Down’ is out (today), congratulations! Can you tell us about what inspired the track and the creative process behind it? Has it been harder for you creating music and being collaborative with constant lockdowns and quarantines?

D: ‘LKFD’ is about when you’re trying to make that relationship, or a situation, work but no matter what you do you can’t seem to get it to go right and stay the course. The creative process for this track has been interesting because I actually wrote it before lockdown but to get the song finished, we’ve been having to do zooms and phone calls and the journey has taken a little bit longer. Whereas you would usually be able to finish it in one day if you were all in the studio together. It’s been amazingly collaborative though and I’m so happy with the final product. I just can’t wait for everyone to hear it.

EQ: With the imminent promise of outside being open soon, what’s the first thing you’re looking forward to doing?

D: Honestly man, I’m just looking forward to seeing my friends, I haven’t seen them for a long time. I actually move back to St Vincent, where my mother is from, to see family. It’s been amazing to be here, but I’ve definitely missed my friends back home and my London life.

EQ: You’ve got an EP coming out this year, which is very exciting, what can we expect to hear from that body of work and any other releases you have planned for 2021?

D: Yes! I’m looking forward to putting out a body of work. I haven’t done that for a long time. Picture a lot of strings, a lot of big beats, and a lot of love songs as that seems to be all I write ?. It borrows from a lot of different genres but always remains string- based pop music, that’s hopefully not shit! Outside of that I’ve got some features and some other interesting projects and collaborations which I can’t talk about just yet. But I’m really looking forward to what’s coming in 2021 and can’t wait to share it all!